FORD RANGER PHEV

Focus ST engine meets electric motor in best-selling pick-up truck

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Ford's car strategy in Europe has undergone a major overhaul in recent years, the results of which are still playing out. But while this has been going on, the Blue Oval's sturdy commercial vehicle business has been holding the fort globally, delivering appealing vehicles and even more appealing profit margins.

Transits are still the default vans in each size group, the F-150 pick-up truck remains the best-selling vehicle in the US full stop and the smaller Ranger is the best-selling pick-up in 21 other nations, the UK among them. Some five million Rangers have been sold over the past two decades.

Ford has now created a plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger, which is a big deal, because PHEVs are back in fashion across Europe - and because the UK no longer treats double-cab pick-ups as light commercial vehicles when it comes to benefit-in-kind tax, so the rate here is 20%, compared with the full 37% for one of the diesel Rangers.

Importantly for Ford's outdoorsy and independently minded Ranger customers, this doesn't come at the expense of practicality: the PHEV can tow (3500kg) and carry (1049kg) similar weights to a diesel.